On anniversaries like today, people tend to produce lots of numbers
in an attempt to understand and reflect upon the situation. I respect
numbers, but I have to admit, more often than not I have to really
stare at a numerical figure for a long time before it begins to have
real meaning for me.

For example, today I read (NYT article) that Nobel Prize-winning
economist Joseph E. Stiglitz estimates the total cost of the Iraq War
at "more than four trillion dollars." But what is four trillion dollars? I can't really relate to that - I mean, to me, $1,000 is already a lot of money. You can write it out:

$4,000,000,000,000.00

That's a lot of zeros. Four trillion is the same as saying four thousand billion dollars. Or four million million dollars. Wow.

But even more 'wow' for me was the discrepancy between this total
and the Bush administration's pre-war estimate. Before the war started,
President Bush and friends said they thought it would cost between $50
and $60 billion dollars to invade Iraq, overthrow their government, and
replace it with something we like better. $50~$60 billion vs. $4
trillion - that's not close. How far off were the President's men?
Well, the difference between the two is like this: say you go to a deli
and order a tomato sandwich. The sandwich guy says, "Sure, that'll be
$5 or $6 dollars." (it's an estimate - has to see how many tomatoes
he's going to put in it before he comes up with the final price; he's
not psychic you know) So he makes that sandwich and then when he's done
he hands it to you and says "That'll be $400." Proportionately
speaking, that's the same difference. So like I said, $60 million and
$4 trillion are not close.

Another number-oriented piece of information I've encountered a few
times today: since the beginning of the invasion in 2003, approximately
4,000 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq. 4,000 people! But U.S.
newspapers and television news hardly seem to mention the war dead
anymore - it's almost as if they've gotten used to the idea and moved
on. But what does this mean - "4,000 people"? Invisible to the public
or not, this number can be stated in the most brutal terms:

• All together the bodies of the dead would weigh about 360 tons.

• Their brains alone would weigh over 5 tons.

• Laid end to end, their bodies would extend beyond 77 football fields; almost 4 and 1/2 miles.